Railroad-tie.



S. STROUD.

RAILROAD TIE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23, 1915.

Patented Sept. 26,1916.

S. S Zr'aa'ci mr umqlls ruin m homo-um. vummruu. n P

ion.

SAM STROUD, 0F BRA-SHEAR, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO H. I4. DUVAL,0F BRASHEAR, TEXAS.

RAILROAD-TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 26, 191$.

Application filed February 23, 1915. Serial No, 10,059.

in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in railroad tiesand fasteners and has for its principal object to provide a tie whichmay be easily and cheaply constructed from sheet metal or the like andalso to provide a secure and novel fastening means for the rails. 74% IAnother object of the invention is to providefatie which willeffectively support the rails and hold the same from spreading, sinkingor creeping, thereby removing much of the danger to life and propertyincident to traveling.

A further object of the invention is to provide a secure rail holdingmeans which will positively prevent the rails from spreading under anyconditions.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists in thenovel combination and arrangement of parts which will be fully set forthin the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a fragment of a track, showing myimproved ties and fasteners holding the rails in place, Fig. 2 is atransverse sectional .view of Fig. 1 taken on line 22 thereof, Fig. 3 isan enlarged transverse sectional view of one of the ties, clearlyillustrating the details of construction, Fig. 4 is a detail perspectiveview of one of the fasteners, and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view,showing the device as applied for holding switch rails.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, the numeral 1designates as an entirety a railroad track which is composed of theusual rails 2 and 3 which rails are held in place by means of the ties,designated generally by the numeral-4. These ties are of my improvedform and comprise a single strip of metal which is bent intermediate itsends back upon itself, as at 5, and the free edges thereof are bentoutwardly as at 6, to form the base ofthe tie.

The lateral extremities of the base are then bent upwardly as at'7, andextend in planes 7 parallel to the portion 5 and it will thus be seenthat a trough is provided having an upstanding rib intermediate itswidth, which divides the same into two separate compartments 8 and 9,which are designed for the reception of the securing means, which willbe more fully hereinafter described.

The rail securing means above mentioned is best illustrated in Fig. 4and is designated generally by the numeral 10, and this rail securingmeans comprises the body 11 which is preferably rectangular and isformed with the upstanding fiangp engaginmor tion 12 whichisp'riovidedwith the lip 13 which overlies the rail flange and clamps the samefirmly against the upper portion of the tie. Each of these rail securingdevices is provided with apair of apertures, one of which is locatednear each end and designated by the numeral 14, the use of which willappear as the description proceeds. Suitable bolts 15 are designed toextend through the apertures 14 and through suitable apertures formed inthe tie near its ends. These bolts form a securing means for the railholding elements and permit the easy removal of the rail holdingelements should anyone of them become broken or otherwise inoperative.The rail securing means 10 are slightly larger than the depth of the tie4, their upper faces forming bases for the rails to rest upon whenpositioned in the ties 4 as is clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

In using the tie and rail securing members in combination with switchrails, the only modification is in the rail securing member, which hasthe ends of the flange engaging portion 13 beveled to conform to theproper inclination of the switch rail with relation to the body 11.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that in use, the ties are laid inthe usual manner and the rails placed in position thereon. The railsecuring elements are then placed in their respective chambers in theties, as shown in Fig. 1, soas to engage the rail on both the inside andoutside. In event that a joint is encountered, the body 11 of thesecuring elements is one-half of the width of the chamber so that two ofthe devices may be placed in a single chamber, as

shown in Fig. 1, to reinforce the joint. It is also apparent that inusing a device of this character',the rails will be prevented fromspreading, sinking or creeping and a particularly simple and efficientrail tieand securing means therefor is provided which 7 prising a stripof metal bent centrally and then bent outwardly and upwardly forming apair of troughs, rail engaging members comprising a rectangular body anda rail base engaging lug formed on the upper face at one end of thebody, said rail engaging lugs providedwith inwardly projecting lipsadaptedig gngage the baseflange ofthe rail,

said rectangular"members pl'QY ded their opposite ends wlthtransverselyextending openings, said members adapted to be oppositelyarranged in the compartments of.

Copies of this patent may be the tie and their side faces engaging theinner faces of the side partitions of the troughs, substantially as setforth.

2. A rail of the class described comprising a strip of metal bentcentrally upon itself, its edges bent outwardly and upwardly forming apair of troughs, rail engaging v members comprising rectangularelongated bodies provided'in their side faces with transverselyextending apertures, a rail engaging lug formed upon the upper face ofone end of each of said members and provided with an overlying lip toengage the base flange ofthe rail, the said rectangular members arrangedin opposite directions in said compartments of the "ties, their flangeengaging members adapted to engage the base flange of the. rail onopposite sides thereof, bolts extending through the side walls of theties and through themenibers for iolding'the same against lateralmovement, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

. SAM STROUD.

l/Vitnesses:

obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. (1.. 7

